Automatic ballasting device



(No Model.) 2 She'ets-Sheet 1. B HALSTEAD AUTOMATIC BALLASTING DEVICE.

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(No Model.) 2 SheetsSl1'eet 2.

B. HALSTEAD.

AUTOMATIC BALLASTING DEVICE.

7 No. 472,99 Patented Apr. 19, 1892.

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/ V E I 17%) F (C) *F -:E ---E a U U 0 U C? 5 U K2 0 0L2! U IQ! UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENTON HALSTEA D, OF RIVERSIDE, OHIO.

AUTOMATlC BALLASTING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 472,994, dated April 19, 1892. Application filed December 18, 1891. Serial No. 415.459. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENTON HALSTEAD, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Riverside, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Ballasti-ng Devices, of which the following is a specification.

The railroads to which my invention is applicable are those which employ steel rails or rails of other tough and elastic substance for wheels to run upon.

The invention in general consists in a novel arrangement of metal, gravel, and earth whereby the passage of trains over the track improves, levels, and adjusts the track and keeps it from getting out of line, leaving it in better condition each time a train passes over it than previously, so that the more the track is used the better its condition becomes, excepting only as to ordinary wear and tear. At thepresent time the reverse of the above proposition is true of all operated railroads, hence the usefulnessof my invention.

A useful feature of my invention is that whenever a railroad is built conformably to myinvention or the device is attached to the cross ties or rails of a railroad as at present usually constructed the foundation need never be disturbed by ballasting, but is constantly being renewed by the process of running trains upon the track.

An inverted cone placed under steel rails or under cross-ties of a railroad and supplied with a hopper for gravel will when filled with gravel create a foundation which will sustain great weight and remain fixed and immovable when great weight is placed upon the said inverted cone. When filled with gravel and more'gravel is forced into the cone through the neck of the hopper or funnel, the effect is to raise the cone upward, the force of a crow-bar plunged into the gravel through the neck of the hopper being communicated to the entire interior surface of the cone and upon the earth below, upon which the gravel in the cone rests. In building a road, theelastic rails being straight, it is onlynecessary to force sufficient gravel into the cone to cause it (the cone) to support a part of the weight of the rail and then an even surface is obtained and would forever remain were it not and leveling up the track by the process of a train running along same, the only condition to obtain this end being that the hoppers be kept filled with gravel. The result is that the longer the road is in use and the more it is used the better it becomes and the less the amount of gravel necessary to correct inequalities as they occur.

In the. accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, and towhich reference is hereby made, Figure 1 represents an elevation of my automatic ballasting device attached directly to. a rail, the latter being shown in cross-section. Fig. 1 shows on the right a vertical central section of my self-ballasting device and showing the same attached directly to the rail, the raiL being shown in cross-section and the securing-bolts in elevation. Fig. 2 is atop view of my self-ballasting device apart from the rail. Fig. 3 shows in elevation my self-ballasting device as applied to atie, the rail supported by the tie being shown in elevation. Fig. 3 represents a vertical central section of my automatic bal-' lasting device, as shown in Fig. 3, those portions ofthe tie adjacent to my device being shown in section. Fig. tis a top view of my automatic ballasting device shown in Figs. 3 and 3 Fig. 5 represents in plan view a railroad-crossing where the railroad-tracks are provided with my self-ballasting device shown 0 indicates a receptacle open at the bottom the sand and gravel are to enter. The prefer able shape of the interior O of th is receptacleis that of an invert-ed truncated cone, substantially such as shown in the drawings. The walls or annular wall 0 of this receptacle C and also the top (J are of a suitable thickness to meet the requirements of the pressure from within outward, and also to properly uphold and sustain the weight of the superimposed rails and connecting rods or ties and plates and bolts, and also the weight of the superincumbent train passing upon and over these rails. The wall 0' for these reasons preferably increases in thickness toward its upper end. Upon the top of this receptacle 0 is located the rail E or the tie G. In case the rail E is located upon the receptacle it is preferably placed thereon, as shown in Figs. 1 and 1 and the base or foot of the rail E is suitably secured to the receptacle.

In the present illustrative instance the railbase' is secured to the top 0 of the receptacle by bolts or rivets E substantially as shown.

In the absence of the usual wooden cross-ties the rails, the latter keep the requisitedistance apart.

In the event cross-tie G'being employed andin cases'where this tie is located directly upon the receptacles O, as shown in Figs. 3 and 3 the receptacles are usually located farther apart than in the case illustrated in Figs. 1 and 1 Connected to the receptacle .6 is a second receptacle D for feeding sand, gravel, &c., to the receptacle 0. For convenience of description this receptacle D will be hereinafter termed the hopper. The hopperD is preferably of a conical or funnel shape, inorder that the sand and gravel it contains may readily and surely descend from it into the receptacle 0. The walls D may be of a uniform thickness throughout, as there is no special weight to support. a A passage D connecting the interiorspace D of the hopper D to the interior space 0 of the receptacle 0, is present at or near the bottom of the hopper and at or near the top of said receptacle 0.

In cases where the rail is applied to the receptacle, as shown in Figs. 1 and 1 the hopper is preferably located as shownviz., at the outer side of the rail and at one side of aplane passing through the center of the receptacle D and the longitudinal center of the of the usual large wooden l fiand 1 The connecting passage-way D at the bottom of the hopper enters the chamber-O at the top portion of one side of the latter. In the instance shown in Figs. 3 and 3 the passage D connects the bottom of the a chamber D of the hopper with the top of chamber C of the receptacle C.

For convenience of application the passage D extends down through the tie G. As one mode of securing the proper alignment of the hopper D and receptacle 0 and the passageway D a tube D is present through the tle G and connects the said hopper and said receptacle, the interior space of the tube con- I This tube also stituting the passage D serves to maintain the receptacle 0 and the hopper D in their desired positions relative to the tie G. The tube will ordinarily be rlgidly attached to the hopper. D and receptacle (J and hold the latter rigidly against the tie. Moreover, the tube will preferably fill the opening through the tie without'lateral play.

Thus the receptacle 0 and the tie G and the my invention to practo the u pper surface of the road-bed willd epend upon Whether they are used with thick ties, as G, or without such ties, as in Figs. 1 and 1 In the former instance the upper portions of the receptacles Owill be at or near the surface of the road-bed. In the latter instance the top portions of the receptacles will lie,

somewhat below the surfaee of the road-bed- After the receptacles are filled with gravel and sand the hoppers are again filled with gravel and sand. As the train passes over the rails the extra downward pressure upon the latter forces the receptacles down a little by compacting the earth directly below the receptacle, and also the sand and gravel in the chamber 0 of the receptacle 0. As the train leaves a given rail the latter will spring upward and raise the adjacent receptacle a little. As the latter rises a small space will be left between the top 0 of the receptacle 7 and the sand and gravel of the receptacle. Immediately sand and gravel from the hopper will pass into the receptacle until the latteris again filled. This process of packing and compacting the said contents of the receptacle 0 and refilling it will take place as each suecessive train passes over the rail, which it (the receptacle) supports. Thus a process of automatic tamping is carried on, and the rail is sustained on a hard firm base and at the proper level. Sufficient sand and gravel is at all times to be kept in the hopper to keep the receptacle 0 full of the same. In this Way and by. these means the railroad is kept continuously ballasted. as it is used.

As hereinbefore indicated, the receptacle C may support the rail directly or through the intervention 'or agency of intermediate devices or means.

Another valuable mode in which my invention may be employed is as follows: The receptacle C and hopper (shown in Fig. 1 may be attached to any rail between the cross-ties of any railroad at a place where the foundation is not self-sustaining, and thus patch up the worst of such part-s without going to the trouble and expense of boring holes through the said cross-ties.

. I desire to call the attention to another important function which the hopper performs when located as indicated in Figs. 1 and 1" viz., at that side of the receptacle 0 which is at the outside of the track of the road-bed. This function is as follows: The sand, gravel, or earth passes down from the hopper into thereeeptacle C, and alarger amount will pass to the outer portion of the interior space 0 than to the opposite side of the interior space, and this added sand'will thus have a tendency to press up the receptacle from beyond the outside rail, thereby not only counteracting the weight of the hopper, but also giving to the track structure a broad foundation and support.

\Vhat I claim as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The railroad-ballasting device consisting of the receptacle (3, open at the bottom and provided with a hopper for feeding gravel, sand, earth, or other substance to the receptacle C, supporting the rail or track structure, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. In combination with a railroad-bed, the receptacle 0, whose chamber 0 is open at the bottom and larger there thanat the top, and the hopper D, connected to the receptacle 0 by a passage-way, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. In a self-ballasting device and a foundation for the support of the rail,the receptacle 0, whose chamber is of the form of a truncated cone, and a hopper, substantially funnel-shaped, connected to the receptacle 0 by a passage-way D substantially as and for the purposes specified.

4. In a self-ballasting device and a founda- Its condition improves tion for the support ofthe rail,the receptacle ho pper, substantially as and for the purposes 6. The railroad-ballasting device consisting of the receptacle 0, open at the bottom and provided with a hopper for feeding gravel, sand,'earth, orv other'substance to the receptacle C, the rail resting on the top of the receptacle and secured thereto'by bolts or rivets E substantially as and for the purposes specified. v

7. As a new combination of self-ballasting device and track, the receptacle 0, open at bottom for the reception of gravel, sand, earth, or other substance, and the hopper for feedin g said mobile substance or substances to the receptacle, and the rails respectively bolted to and upon their respectivereceptacles, and the cross-ties F, connected to the Webs or sides of the rails,and the separating-pieces F embracing or accompanying said tie, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

/ S. The railroad-ballasting device consisting of the receptacle 0, open at the bottom and larger there than at the top and provided with a hopper-for feeding gravel, sand, earth, or other substance to the receptacle 0, the rail resting on the top of the receptacle and secured thereto by bolts or rivets E substantially as and for the purposes specified.

9. A'railroad-ballasting device consisting of the receptacle 0, open at the bottom, provided with a hopper feeding gravel, sand, earth, or other'substance to the receptacle 0 for supporting the rail or track structure,the opening from the hopper to the receptacle being located at that side of the receptacle 0 which is at the outside of the road-bed, substantially as and for the purposes specified. BENTON HALSTEAD. Attest:

GEORGE HENDRIOH, WILLIAM L. BRYATT. 

